need help with improv and stuff

[D K]

I’ve been playing guitar for about 6 years, but this mostly consists of playing songs or part of songs that I like, without really paying any attention to improvisation, writing or music theory, although over the years I have gathered some knowledge about music theory. Also, I have never played with other musicians, partly due to a lack of other musicians in my environment, partly because of my social skills (or lack thereof).
I have already started somewhat by watching papa gates’ lessons on the CAGED system and applying the major pentatonic scale over some backing tracks. When I’m improvising, I think I have a relatively good ear as to what sounds good and what doesn’t over a certain backing track, but it’s hard to apply more difficult techniques, it’s like everything I know is just gone during improvisation.
So mainly my question is, what’s a good approach to start learning to improvise and how do you apply more advanced techniques or more difficult licks?
Any help is appreciated!

 

[idssdi]

Good improv in general comes from simply doing it a lot. You can post your improv here and we’ll try to give you some pointers. Another i always notice when i’m improvising is that whdn I start thinking to mich about which scales and notes to play I suck really bad

 

[Calvin Phillips]

yeah, if you start to think too far ahead you will mess up. thats key in just letting your body flow. lol

 

[Noah Berends]

Almost everything guitar-related is improved by doing. If you improv more, you’ll develop a better ear, grow your box of skill and techniques, and get simply better. I practice improv ofen by pulling up any of my favorite Spotify playlists and I’ll simply let songs play and I’ll try to do 2 things to improve my improv:
1) Simply play over the song using scales in the same key
2) Try and write new riffs/solos for the song on-the-spot as it plays, or try to create an A7X-style harmony with the part to truly stretch my brain and fingers.
Knowledge of keys and scales is absolutely essential for improv, but book knowledge isn’t everything, unfortunately! You gotta play and stretch the brain. Since you have been studying CAGED, that would be a great starting point if the aforementioned practice method sounds interesting. As you practice more and more, you’ll get used to the concept of improv, and you’ll be able to start applying harder and more complex techniques as you get more used to playing in this manner. Hope this helps!

 

[D K]

Thanks. When I want to do new things I tend to worry about everything at once and end up doing nothing at all lol. I guess that’s something that’s really been holding me back, not just guitar related but with life in general.

 

[Noah Berends]

I totally get where you’re coming from. Just take it in small bits, learning and improving the specific techniques and ideas, and soon enough you’ll be able to take all of these small pieces and make a complete picture.

 

[Jak Angelescu]

Yes! Like what @Ids said. Please post up your improv videos here because we all really will chip in and give advice and tips. Believe me, Ids made some comments on mine that I really took to heart and I tried the same improv again the next week and it helped a bunch. And I would also agree that the more you do it, the more confident you’ll become with adding in those saucy flairs. Synyster Gates (I quoted this on another page) said in an interview he loved jamming to backing tracks because it really sharpened his wits. We all feel intimidated when we improv so we choke up and it makes it harder to apply these things. But the more you know your backing track and your scales and rhythmic feel, you’ll start loosening up and really surprising yourself! Always pay attention to your rhythmic feel with lead. Get in the groove of things. And PG gave me some really sound advice as well with improving. Don’t be afraid to play phrases/licks/runs OVER the entire progression and don’t resolve on every chord or change. It’ll make your improving sound too “in” if you do. So between that and Ids advice and some theory help from my singer, I felt my improving improve a whole lot in just one week Hope this helps!

 

[Sayonil Mitra]

Improvising can be seen as creating your own sound over something already given to you. You will play straight from your heart, often without thinking. In that case, it is often difficult to start as a complete blank slate. if you take certain things inside you and then start improvising, things might flow more fluently. First make your mind about which guitarists you really like or want to cover. Learn the stuff from them. Cover their solos, licks. Slowly you will be able to feel that you can create certain licks on a given setting without thinking hard. They will be influenced by certain artists, but they will be your own. Then you will start growing as a player. Improvising is such a vast thing. Everyone has a different approach. Also, you need to sit and play on a certain progression again and again to find new licks so that you can use them later on.I am not an expert at all, but that’s how I feel and play.

 

[D K]

I posted a video of myself improvising (finally). It would be great if you could let me know what you think.
Guitar imrpovisation in B minor